August 2019 NEWSLETTER
The mission of Back 2 School Illinois is to create and support educational opportunities that enrich the lives of Illinois children.
For every $18 dollar donation you will help in our ongoing work to supply underserved Illinois children
with our signature Back 2 School supply kits throughout the school year.
Annual "BIG" Distribution and Activity Day
11,000 Kits Distributed 
On Thursday, August 8, we held our annual “BIG” Distribution & Activity Day Event at the Broadway Armory in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. Through the tremendous effort and energy of more than 150 volunteers and staff, over 11,000 underserved children will be receiving one of our Back 2 School kits!

Beginning at 8 a.m., the kits were brought into the armory on five semi-trucks, sorted by volunteers, and then picked up by staff drivers from 50 area YMCAs to deliver to their respective locations for distribution before the start of school. This year there was a new element to the day: we had a Build-A-Kit area where 1,000 kits were assembled from scratch by kid and adult volunteers who later saw their finished products sent off to the Kelly Hall YMCA in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.

The day’s festivities included hosting 350 children from the YMCA of Metro Chicago, Heartland Alliance, Camp of Dreams, and Centro Romero who rotated through a series of five fun and educational activities including aerobics taught by the Chicago Athletics Club, arts & crafts sponsored by Blick, science experiments presented by students from Wright College, yoga taught by Buddha Belly Kids Yoga, and an interactive exotic animal show.

Thank you to all of the amazing volunteers and partner organizations who donated their time and sweat to ensure we had a record-breaking day! Another big thank-you goes out to the dozens of sponsors including Community Currency Exchange Association of Illinois, Fifth Third Bank, Western Union Foundation, Wells Fargo, Community Financial Services Centers, Electronic License Service, NBC/Comcast/Universal, Republic Bank, CIBC, CA Ventures and Kits for Kidz. We are also grateful for the following companies that donated food and beverages to keep our volunteers fed and happy throughout the day: Starbucks, Cabot Creamery, MadeGood Snacks and Honest Tea.

We were very fortunate to have local news give us great coverage. Here is a sampling of the media coverage highlights of the event:


New Partnership with the
United African Organization
B2SI Sponsors Back 2 School Party
The United African Organization, our newest community partner, hosted a back-to-school party on August 3 with gift giveaways, fun games, food and drinks, and a DJ! The organization is a dynamic coalition of African community-based groups that promotes social and economic justice, civic participation, and empowerment of African immigrants and refugees in Illinois. 

We are excited for this new partnership and were happy to sponsor their event by providing our signature Back 2 School kits for each child in attendance. The event was also sponsored by Stout Risius Ross, LLC, who is responsible for donating the funds and assembling the kits. 
Operation Homefront Distribution
2,650 Kits Distributed to
Military Families
This summer has been one of our busiest ones to date! Throughout July and August, we visited various military bases to pass out our signature kits to kids in those families through our partnership with Operation Homefront. 

Below is a list of locations where a total of 2,650 of our Back 2 School kits were given to children of servicemen/women: 
  • July 20 – Milan National Guard Armory
  • July 20 – Mt. Vernon Readiness Center
  • July 20 – Marion National Guard Armory
  • July 27– Scott Air Force Base (Belleville)
  • August 2 & 3 – Naval Station Great Lakes 
  • August 2 & 3 – Camp Lincoln (Springfield)
  • August 3 & 4 – Springfield 178th Air Wing
  • August 4 – Peoria 182 Airlift Wing Barton 
  • August 11 – Joliet Armory National Guard Armory

Stay tuned for reports of more Operation Homefront distributions.
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Green Dot Promo Comes to an End
$3,100+ Raised for Illinois Children
During June and July, Green Dot Corporation partnered with the Community Currency Exchange Association of Illinois (CCEA) and donated $2 for every purchase of a reloadable Green Dot debit card sold with a load of $50 or more at a CCEA location. During those two months, $3,156 was raised and will go toward providing schools supplies to Chicagoland students for the 2019-2020 school year. 
Our Sponsors
Generous support for Back 2 School Illinois is provided by our founding organization, the Community Currency Exchange Association of Illinois. We are grateful for their support along with our other key sponsors: